PREVIEW | Birmingham Diamond League

Published Sat 21 May 2022

After podium finishes at leg one of the Wanda Diamond League in Doha, Jessica Hull and Peter Bol will lead a contingent of nine Australians at leg two of the series in Birmingham, hosted at the freshly redeveloped facility for the 2022 Commonwealth Games this August.

The meet falls timely for Oliver Hoare and Matthew Denny who were last week announced on the Australian Commonwealth Games team for Birmingham 2022 alongside Hull and Bol, while fellow Australians Stewart McSweyn, Georgia Griffith, Matthew Ramsden, Rose Davies and Izzi Batt-Doyle will also take to the track.

Read our preview of all the action below and tune in via Fox Sports or Kayo from 11:00pm AEST, Saturday May 21.

11:17pm AEST - Women’s 1500m:

Two of Australia’s three Tokyo Olympic 1500m women will take to centre stage in Birmingham, with Jessica Hull (Pete Julian) and Georgia Griffith (Nic Bideau) primed for strong showings over the metric mile.

Hull enters the bout off a dazzling podium finish over 3000m in Doha when clocking 8:40.97 in the challenging conditions, while Griffith boasts winning form having won the 1500m at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo and the Millicent Fawcett Mile at the 10,000m Night of PB’s at Highgate.

The national record holder in this event, Hull will be eager to build on the form that took her to last year’s Olympic final, and with Tokyo silver medallist Laura Muir in the field along with Winny Chebet (Kenya) and Diribe Weltej (Ethiopia) – the Australian will be undoubtedly be challenged once again.

Griffith will be looking to convert her strong form into a World Athletics Championships qualifier as she chases the standard of 4:04.20, a time that would also place her in contention for the Commonwealth Games.

The race will be paced for 2:07 through 800m by fellow Australian Ellie Sanford.

11:37pm AEST - Men’s 800m:

Peter Bol (Justin Rinaldi) finished in second place at leg one of the Diamond League in Doha, but the Olympic sensation will be looking to go one better tonight in Birmingham.

Doha saw Bol once again demonstrate his tactical prowess as he launched an attack from the back of the field to swamp all bar one of his competitors, taking home second place in a pedestrian time of 1:49.35. With the winner of that race, Kenya’s Noah Kibet, not taking to the start line at Birmingham, Bol is presented with an opportunity to stamp his presence on the 2022 Diamond League chase.

The 28-year-old Australian once again comes up against proven performers Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich (Kenya) and Marco Arop (Canada) who he beat in Doha, while the addition of Bryce Hoppel (USA) and Patryk Dobek (Poland) could change the dynamics of the race.

With his ticket booked to the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games, the ball is in Bol’s court as he continues to refine his race craft and make an impression on the international scene.

11:53pm AEST - Men’s Discus:

Matthew Denny (Ben Thomson) will take to the cage for the discus and comes up against the only three men in the world who beat him at last year’s Olympic Games - the Swedish duo of Daniel Stahl and Simon Pettersson, along with Lukas Weisshaidinger (Austria).

Denny threw a best of 64.64m in the domestic season at the Sydney Track Classic, before winning the Australian title with a distance of 62.79m. The 25-year-old plans on warming into his season before bringing things to a crescendo for the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games, but says he is ready to be competitive with the world’s best in Birmingham.

The competition will be the second Diamond League appearance of Denny’s career, after featuring at London in 2019 where he finished in eighth place with a distance of 63.75m.

12:03am AEST - Women’s 5000m:

Rose Davies (Scott Westcott) and Izzi Batt-Doyle (Nic Bideau) are accustomed to going head-to-head on the domestic scene over both 5000m and 10,000m, but the international season sees them work more as teammates rather than rivals.

Davies recently locked away the 10,000m world standard with a performance of 31:18.54 in California, while Batt-Doyle made the 25-lap journey twice in the space of a week with runs of 31:58.25 and 31:40.10. The duo represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the 5000m and have proven their class on numerous occasions, but will take on the likes of Francine Niyonsaba (Burrundi), along with the Ethiopian duo of Girmawit Gebrzihair and Ejgayehu Taye.

The race will be paced by teammate Sarah Billings.

12:28am AEST - Men’s 1500m:

It’s the star-studded Australian trio of Stewart McSweyn (Nic Bideau), Oliver Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein), and Matthew Ramsden (Nic Bideau) who will toe the line in the Men’s 1500m.

The race is Hoare’s first since returning overseas after a clinical 1500m win at the Australian Championships, with the 25-year-old also boasting the form of a fifth place finish over this distance at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March.

Ramsden and McSweyn return to the fray after mixed results at leg one in Doha where Ramsden finished in sixth place with a time of 3:38.83, while McSweyn battled through to the finish after an injury in the first 110-metres.

Key international competitors in the field include Abel Kipsang (Kenya) who won in Doha and owns the fastest time in the world this year, while Spain’s Mohamed Katir and Great Britain’s Josh Kerr are established stars on the world stage.